


Christmas Catastrophe

by beeyouteaful



Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mention of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2859245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeyouteaful/pseuds/beeyouteaful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom wants to finally meet your parents, but maybe the holidays aren't the best time to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Catastrophe

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, this is a day late (Happy Boxing Day!).  
> Secondly, this fic is a little heavy. There are mentions of abuse in this fic, so if that is really not something you'd like to read, please turn right back around and go read something that you can enjoy.  
> Happy holidays (and almost New Year)!

Christmas is like this every year: I go to my parents’ house on Christmas morning and we open presents, my mom and I cook dinner while my older sister and her husband occupy their children and keep them away from the kitchen, and my father sits on the sofa and watches television. That’s how it’s been since I became an adult. Now that I have a fiancé, though… Nothing has really changed except for the fact that I’m engaged, and there’s an extra person in the house.

When we first arrived at my parents’ house, my mom had already started cooking well before sunrise. She took a break while we all exchanged gifts.

But let me go back a few hours first.

 

* * *

 

_“Tom, I know you want to meet my parents very badly… But couldn’t it wait? Holidays are…not the greatest time for them.” Tom looked baffled by my half-hearted request._

_“Darling, I’m sure it will be fine.” He came to stand behind me as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. “I will love you no matter what.”_

_“But your family is so sweet and inclusive. Mine is nowhere near that. I don’t think you’ll like them. They’re problematic.”_

_“(Y/n).” He spun me around to face him and held my shoulders gently. “I just want to meet them. If I don’t like them—and I’m sure I will, mind you—then who cares?”_

_“I’m just afraid that they’ll turn you off so badly that…” I didn’t want to finish my thought. “Nevermind.”_

_“What, darling? That I won’t want to marry you anymore?” I nodded slowly. Tom leaned down and kissed my forehead. “That is preposterous. I love you so dearly, (y/n). Nothing will change my mind about our decision to get married.”_

But I don’t even want to be around them _, I thought._

 

* * *

 

Unwrapping gifts went a lot smoother than I thought. Afterward, Tom and my brother-in-law were preoccupied with helping my niece and nephew open their toys. _Good luck with those Barbie dolls_ , I chuckled to myself. My mom, my sister, and I were all in the kitchen preparing the food. To say the kitchen was boiling would be an understatement. I was sweating like a pig, and I’m sure I smelled awful. Yet, when I took a break from the preparations to use the bathroom, Tom followed me in and held me close, whispering _I love you_ ’s and _Merry Christmas_ ’s over and over. His presence at the family gathering made me equally relieved and nauseous.

When it was finally time to eat, Tom set the table—without anyone asking him to—and my sister and I laid out all the food. My family isn’t religious, so by the time everyone was seated, the Battle Royale for food began. My father and brother-in-law are human garbage disposals; they eat practically anything put in front of them, so of course, they took heaping amounts of everything. I, on the other hand, took barely enough food for a child. I wasn’t even that hungry anyway, so there was no point in me taking more than I could eat. Tom noticed this and took my hand in his under the table, and when I looked at him, I could tell he was mentally saying, _Darling, are you alright? Please eat more than that if you can_. I barely shook my head and turned my attention back to the meager helping on my plate, pushing some veggies around with my fork.

After one round of food, my father went back in for a second helping, and apparently took too much, according to my mom.

“Dear, why don’t you slow down a bit… Maybe take a breather?”

“I’m fine.” He continued to pile on the food and then proceeded to inhale everything he took. I watched him eat in a daze and didn’t realize I was staring until he acknowledged me. “What’s the matter with you?” I jumped a bit, visibly startled. I felt Tom’s hand tense up.

“Nothing, I’m just…not feeling well, is all.” My father made a ‘hmph’ noise and continued with his food. There was a long silence filled with the scraping of silverware on china before my mother spoke.

“Can I see you in the kitchen?” The question was directed at my father. He paused for a moment and then pushed his chair away from the table to stand. They walked through the door to the kitchen, and my mother closed it after her. I felt my cheeks heating up. I knew what was going to happen. I looked up at my sister, and she seemed just as unnerved as I did. I glanced to both my niece and nephew and then back to her with a pleading expression. _Take them somewhere they can’t hear._ She got the message and decided to take the children to the bathroom upstairs to wash their hands before dessert, leaving her husband, Tom, and me alone at the table. I made awkward eye contact with her husband, and he gave me a look of sympathy. I tried to smile faintly in thanks. Tom still had my hand underneath the table. The anticipation of what was to come hung in the air and was almost as suffocating as when Tom suggested we come to my parents’ house for the holiday.

“Why can’t you just act normal around your children for one night?” My mother’s exasperated voice came muffled through the door.

“I am acting normal! They shouldn’t expect anything different from their childhood! This is how it’s always been,” my father boomed. I felt the bile rising in my throat.

“All they wanted was a nice, quiet Christmas with us. Why can’t you just give them that?” Her voice was starting to get louder. The three of us sat there in silence. I kept trying to focus on something, _anything_ , other than their conversation, but I had no luck. The only thing keeping me grounded was Tom’s hand in mine, with his thumb rubbing the back of it gently.

“They should be grateful that I’m not drunk right now!”

“You’re not acting any different from when you are!”

“If they wanted a ‘nice, quiet Christmas,’ they should have stayed cooped up in their homes with their men! Maybe then, they would learn that it’s a man’s world and that this is my house. What I say and do goes!”

“This is all because I didn’t give you a son, isn’t it!? You always resented me for having daughters. Well, I’m glad we didn’t have any boys because they’d just end up exactly like you!”

A loud smack echoed through the room, followed by a thud.

Tom and my brother-in-law shot up from their chairs immediately, and I sat still with my face in my hands. Tears welled in my eyes and my throat burned as I tried to hold them back. The kitchen door swung open, and my father marched into the room. I looked up, frozen in terror with tears freely streaming down my face. He took one look at me and opened his mouth to speak something foul, but Tom interrupted him before he could say anything.

“One word to her,” he warned. Something akin to fear flashed across my father’s face; no one ever really stood up to him. “One word, and I will call the police.” My father looked at me again, made another ‘hmph’ noise, and stormed out of the house. Once we heard the front door slam shut, my brother-in-law rushed into the kitchen to tend to my mother. I exhaled a breath I didn’t even know I was holding in. Tom kneeled on the ground beside my chair, taking my hands in his.

“I’m so sorry, Tom…” I tried to sound steady but my voice wobbled all over the place.

“No, darling. You don’t have anything to be sorry about.” He brought each of my hands to his lips and kissed them softly. My resolve crumbled completely, and I slid to the floor so Tom could hold me in his arms. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“What?” I asked into his shoulder.

“I should have listened to you this morning when you tried to get me to stay home. I’m a fool for not listening.”

“Tom, none of this is your fault, so please, don’t apologize. I should’ve just told you outright.” We sat there for a few minutes before my sister returned.

“I put the kids in our old room with the television on… What happened?” Her husband and our mother slowly made their way out of the kitchen. “Oh my god, Mom… Your cheek…”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Mom, it’s not fine,” my sister objected. “Where did Dad go?”

“He ran out the door,” I croaked from behind the table. “He is a coward.” My sister turned to me and saw that Tom was holding me in his arms on the floor.

“Oh, god. (Y/n), did he hurt you, too?” I shook my head. She turned back to my mother. “You’re coming to stay with us and the kids. I’m not going to leave you here with him. And, (y/n), you and Tom are welcome to come over as well. We’ll have a real Christmas.” I pulled away from Tom and silently asked if he would want to go. He nodded with a small, reassuring smile.

“We’d love to. Thank you,” he told her.

The five of us made the effort to clean up the table and kitchen, and soon, we were all headed to my sister’s house a few towns over.

Tom drove us there smoothly. On the way, he and I stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few snacks for the rest of the family, giving everyone else a head start in settling down at my sister’s.

“Thank you for standing up to my dad.” My tears had long stopped, and the blotchiness of my skin went down during the rest of the car ride.

“I would do anything to keep you safe, (y/n).” I smiled weakly at him as we stopped in front of my sister’s home.

“So… Do you still want to…” I held my hand up and wiggled my ring finger. Tom laughed quietly.

“Of course I do, (y/n). Of course.” My smile brightened and I leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“I love you, Tom.”

“And I love you, (y/n). _Always_.” We kissed once more before taking the groceries inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay for happy endings!  
> (Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors)


End file.
